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Fresh perspectives, proven strategies, and stories from real Yellowdig classrooms.
Featured
If Students Have Something to Say, Let Them Talk : A Yellowdig Story

Dr. Scott StandiferrSouthern California University of Health Sciences   Challenge: Traditional discussion boards feel structured and predictable. Students complete prompts, but rarely explore ideas beyond them. The human moment “This is how I kind of envision a discussion board, as a sort of stair step of knowledge. At the end of the course, we end […]
When Students Turn to Each Other First : A Yellowdig Story

Dr. Kevin Carr University of Michigan   Challenge: Students defaulted to instructor answers or external tools instead of learning through each other. The human moment “They can ask their peers, and they get a much better and more interesting response, and they’re more part of a community through that.” — Kevin Carr Dr. Carr teaches […]
Announcing Yellowdig's Guaranteed Retention Outcome

Higher education is facing a structural challenge.   Enrollment pressure is real.   Student acquisition costs are rising.   And too many capable students quietly disengage before we see it coming.   The data is clear: academic performance alone does not predict persistence. Connection does.   Belonging is no longer a “student life” concept. It […]
Latest at Yellowdig
Product Updates
December 2020 Product Update - Freeform Point System, Navigation Redesign, and Plans for 2021

The Yellowdig team has been listening to user feedback and diligently working to improve the Yellowdig Engage platform. To ensure a consistent experience for our instructors and students, we have waited until after most semesters end to release our biggest improvements. We are very excited to tell you about all of the changes that have […]
Instructor Stories
Building Vibrant Learning Communities Across Borders

How can an online learning platform help bridge communication across oceans and time zones for students? Oddly enough, in a year when most of us have spent more time in our houses than anywhere else, this year has become a critical year for institutions to innovate in international learning. Below, we share 4 examples of […]
Yellowdig
Learning from the YAAC

Our users are the best source of insights for how to get the most out of Yellowdig. Professors and instructional designers have that real-world, day to day experience using Yellowdig that we rely on to fine tune Yellowdig and create an even better experience for you and your students. That’s why we’ve decided to give […]
Yellowdig
8 Things Yellowdig is Thankful for in 2020

It’s that time of year again! Although we are extremely grateful for our amazing supporters, partners, investors, and employees all year round, we’d like to take this opportunity to highlight everything we are especially thankful for this year, especially in a year when it’s extremely important to be reminded of the good that still exists. […]
A Student Perspective
Rethinking Virtual Learning With Less Zoom

Way back before a global pandemic in 2020 was nothing more than a plot to a scifi movie, one of my professors needed to host class via Zoom for the first half of the semester for health reasons. As a full time, on-campus student, I thought that was the most exciting thing. Instead of the […]
Instructor Stories
STEM Professor Succeeds using Yellowdig as a Help Forum

Dr. Vicki Hart, Assistant Professor at the University of Vermont, has been using Yellowdig for two and a half years to teach her graduate courses on epidemiology and biostatistics in the master of public health program. Classes for this program are 100% online and asynchronous, so students are never in real-time classes together. It was […]
Instructor Stories
5 Spooky Online Teaching Mistakes to Avoid

As Halloween rolls around the corner, we wanted to help you to save the spooking for the holiday by keeping it out of your classroom. We have compiled 5 common mistakes instructors make while running an online class to keep you from falling victims to these easy tricks. Read to the bottom and you may […]
Product Updates
This Fall Brings Large Point System and Grade Passback Improvements

Recent Improvements to Our Points System Feedback we have heard made it clear that there was potential confusion around two aspects of our points system: 1. Points fill one big bucket for the semester 2. There is a buffer that allows users to earn points beyond their current week’s requirement to get ahead This October […]
Product Updates
Yellowdig’s Patented Gamification Approach Improves Student Outcomes

Gamification is a bit of a buzzword in education these days. We can debate the educational value of all the digital games out there, but no one can dismiss the impact (good or bad) of gaming on the formative minds of future generations. I believe game-based learning, when designed with the right motives in mind, […]
Co-Curricular Uses, Instructor Stories
Enhance Your New Student Orientation with Yellowdig

Orientation is a make-or-break experience for incoming students. COVID-19 has left many universities to reinvent different elements of the student lifecycle, and orientation is no exception. At University of Nebraska-Lincoln, orientation leaders were halfway through training when the pandemic hit. Their in-person event was all about community building and making connections to help the new […]
Instructor Stories, Student Success
Improving Course Success and Retention with Yellowdig

Think back to when the world was in the early stages of COVID-19— it was predicted that the virus would have such massive impact. Universities were caught totally unprepared. Instead of having a plan in place, they were forced to scramble and cobble together different programs overnight to try and keep class in session. Change […]
News
Online Ed Demand Boom Leads Robin Hood Ventures to Invest in Yellowdig

(Philadelphia, August 24, 2020) – Yellowdig is excited to announce that it has attracted investment from angel-investment group Robin Hood Ventures (RHV). Yellowdig is a community-building platform that enables a learning institution’s entire ecosystem—from students and faculty to administrators and alumni—to connect, learn, and engage. Built from the ground up, the platform empowers lifelong learning […]
Latest at Yellowdig
Case Study
Gamification Is the Secret Weapon of Remote Learning

Case Study with Carolyn Siccama, Ed.D. The University of Vermont Instructional Designer One piece of advice from Dr. Siccama to fellow Yellowdig instructors: “Be willing to reconsider your notions of online interaction.” How Dr. Siccama Uses Yellowdig: Between Summer 2018 and Summer 2019, Dr. Carolyn Siccama integrated Yellowdig into 7 online graduate courses, 5 online […]
A Student Perspective
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives: Measuring Their Impact on Student Belonging

In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, the emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives has grown significantly. Campuses across the globe are striving to create environments where all students feel a sense of belonging, regardless of their background, race, or identity. In this blog, we’ll delve into the key aspects of EDI initiatives, […]
A Student Perspective, Student Success
Addressing Higher Ed's Dropout Rate by Enhancing Academic Quality and Belonging

In his recent blog, The Crisis of Belonging in Higher Education, Shaunak Roy addressed the value that technology can bring to issues of loneliness and belonging in learners’ lives throughout the learning life cycle. Done correctly, he argues, technology can bring consistency and quality coupled with deep personalization to online and hybrid learning at a […]
Yellowdig
Yellowdig Connect and Succeed Community Management Strategies

Highlights: Expectations Getting Started Prepare Your Community for Launch Keeping Your Community Going Expectations: Yellowdig communities can provide a vibrant space for your audience to interact, network, help each other, promote your objectives and events, and provide resources. However, to achieve these results, it’s important to note that Connect and Succeed communities are quite different […]
Yellowdig
Yellowdig's Community of Inquiry: Scaling Proven Pedagogy for Better Outcomes

Education 3.0 is the movement that acknowledges we cannot simply continue with the tried and true methods of yesterday, but we also cannot throw technology at education and expect better outcomes. We must listen to the needs of our modern learners and adapt our pedagogy and teaching methods for this new era of learning. Yellowdig’s […]
Yellowdig
A Q & A on Shifting from Prompts to Topics

I worked as an instructor teaching online communication classes for more than a decade and can remember designing courses and putting in hours to come up with the “right” discussion question(s) each week that tied to weekly outcomes. I was creative and asked students to connect course ideas to their own personal examples. Through the […]
Co-Curricular Uses
Education 3.0: The University of the Future is Now

Just what is Education 3.0 ? As a complete vision, Education 3.0 includes a virtual campus community network that delivers greater engagement, deeper and more reflective learning, higher persistence and completion rates, greater faculty satisfaction and effectiveness, and cradle-to-grave support services for all involved. Today, happily, we have the technological tools and the knowledge to […]
Yellowdig
Tuning Topics

Are you ready to create topic tags for a Yellowdig Community and don’t know where to start? Start by answering these questions. What do I want my learners to have conversations about in the Yellowdig Community? How do I make sure they are having conversations about course relevant topics without giving a prompt? First start […]
AI
The AI horse is out of the barn: How we approach it now will determine whether it hurts us.

Generative AI systems like ChatGPT, recently made available by OpenAI, are a fascinating use of emerging technology that has captured the world’s attention. Search instances for “AI” peaked at an all-time high in December 2022 as a direct result of conversations about that system (trends.google.com). It’s not just the “tech nerds” that know about this […]
Yellowdig
Cultivating a Faculty Community within Yellowdig

Why Yellowdig? At the University of Central Florida (UCF), our division supports faculty and students by leveraging technology, practices, and innovation in online learning. In alignment with UCF’s 2027 strategic plan, we strive to investigate and pilot new technologies with our faculty and students. While searching for a way to improve online student engagement through […]
Student Success
How to Increase Student Success and Unlock the Door to Purposeful Lifelong Learning

The assessment of prior experiential learning began to go mainstream in the early 1970’s with the creation of CAEL, led by Dr. Morris Keeton. Today, after more than 50 years of collecting information and conducting research on the assessment of prior learning, we know that experiential learning, as well as other learning done outside of academic circles, […]
Case Study
Engagement of students in online learning

In summary The implementation of an integrated and standardised data eco-system, including incorporating data from student engagement platforms such as Yellowdig, supports critical student success initiatives by breaking down data silos. Students observed in this study used Yellowdig Engage to build interpersonal connections that eased their anxieties around their studies, created a sense of community, […]

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